Our Faculty
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
CORE FACULTY
Venkattraman (Venkatt) Ayyaswamy
Plasma science and engineering; microplasmas; plasma-wave interaction; nanomaterial synthesis modeling; stochastic modeling of non-equilibrium flows; rarefied/microscale gas dynamics
Email: vayyaswamy@ucmerced.edu
mehmet z. baykara
Mechanics on the nanometer and atomic scales; scanning probe microscopy with applications in nanotribology, biophysics, and catalysis; atomic-resolution imaging and spectroscopy of surfaces; surface science
Email: mehmet.baykara@ucmerced.edu
yangquan chen
Scientific data-drones and unmanned aircraft systems; mechatronics and control systems; cyber-physical systems; applied fractional calculus in complex phenomena characterization; complex signal analysis; complex system modeling and control
Email: ychen53@ucmerced.edu
abel chuang
Fuel cell, electrolysis, electrochemistry, heat transfer, fluid flow, two-phase, porous media
Email: abel.chuang@ucmerced.edu
Jeanette Cobian- Iniguez
Use of experiments to gain fundamental understanding of wildfire behavior, remote sensing data to derive data driven models of regional wildfire behavior as well as in science communications and outreach
Email: jcobian3@ucmerced.edu
Omur Dagdeviren
Assistant Professor beginning 2021
gerardo diaz
Renewable energy conversion; dynamic simulation and control of thermal systems; biomass gasification; thermal and non-thermal plasma applications to energy generation and water conservation; optimization of thermal systems; solar thermal
Email: gdiaz@ucmerced.edu
reza ehsani
Automation, robotics, and intelligent machines for agriculture; developing sensors and systems with applications in agriculture, food industry; precision agriculture and horticulture, mechanization and mechanical harvesting systems
Email: rehsani@ucmerced.edu
sachin goyal
Computational dynamics, mechanics and controls with biomechanical applications such as modeling and simulation of symptoms of Parkinson’s disease; continuum-dynamics- and multi-body-dynamics-based modeling and inverse modeling of DNA and proteins and their interactions; constitutive law modeling of biological filaments from their molecular dynamics simulations
Email: sgoyal2@ucmerced.edu
Alejandro Gutierrez
Linear and non-linear modeling of solids with applications to the mechanical and civil works industry, computer-aided-engineering, structural design, experimental testing, data analysis, and engineering programming
Email: agutierrez78@ucmerced.edu
min hwan lee
Electrochemical energy conversion and storage, fuel cells, electrocatalysis, nanoscale materials engineering
Email: mlee49@ucmerced.edu
yanbao ma
Mesoscale non-diffusive heat transfer; mesoscale mass and energy transport in energy systems; thermal management of electronics and energy systems; environment-friendly water desalination systems
Email: yma5@ucmerced.edu
ashlie martini
Tribology (friction, wear and lubrication) and phenomena associated with sliding interfaces and their mechanisms from atomic- to macro-scale; wear due to surface contact and sliding; use of solid coatings to minimize friction and wear in extreme environments; the role of lubricants and lubricant additives in interface efficiency and performance
Email: amartini@ucmerced.edu
michael modest (emeritus)
Radiative Heat Transfer (both experimentally and theoretically); Laser Machining of Ceramics (both experimentally and theoretically)
Email: mmodest@ucmerced.edu
james palko
Multiphase heat transfer and electrokinetic transport in porous media; modeling heat transfer and flow in additive manufacturing; thermal management of power electronics and mobile devices; electrochemical energy storage; water purification technologies
Email: jpalko@ucmerced.edu
Ricardo Pinto de Castro
Assistant Professor beginning 2021
Email: rpintodecastro@ucmerced.edu
Brandon Stark
Unmanned aerial systems safety, control, unmanned vehicles
Email: bstark2@ucmerced.edu
jian-qiao sun
Vibrations; noise control; industrial automation; sensors; actuators; bio-mechanics and physical rehabilitation; building-energy-control systems; condition monitoring and diagnosis; energy harvesting; multi-objective optimization
Email: jsun3@ucmerced.edu
roland winston
Solar power and renewable energy; elementary particle physics; non-imaging optics
Email: rwinston@ucmerced.edu
AFFILIATED FACULTY
marie-odile fortier
Email: mfortier2@ucmerced.edu
sarah kurtz
Email: skurtz@ucmerced.edu
francois blanchette
Email: fblanchette@ucmerced.edu
stefano carpin
Email: scarpin@ucmerced.edu